Hi guys! Here's chapter 7…

I need to ask you all a question, what do you think I should call Santana's parents and Brittany's parents? I'll pick the best names :)

Keep reviewing!

Chapter 7

"You need to rest, Miss Lopez. I'm afraid I can't discharge you for another two days." The nurse instructed as she lead a frustrated Santana back to her room.

"I can rest at home! I can't stay in this place any longer. I'm going crazy." Santana waved her hands around to empathise the 'crazy' part.

"I'm sorry, Miss Lopez." The nurse said more forcefully before slowly leaving the room.

Santana sighed and slowly climbed back into bed; she thumped her fist hard against her pillow and let out a deep groan. She slouched down in her bed and tilted her head to face out of the window at the streams of water running down the glass.

Booms of thunder echoed in the distance followed by flashes of lightening, she wondered how Brittany hadn't been woken up yet.

When they were younger and would have sleepovers, Brittany would end up curling her body around Santana's if there was a thunderstorm because she was scared out of her skin. No matter how many times Santana would tell her she would be safe inside the house, the blonde wouldn't stop crying until Santana was holding her in her arms and whispering soothing words into her ear.

Brittany's sleeping body twitched in the small chair next to her; they hadn't really spoken in two days. "I'll never stop loving you Santana Lopez" Brittany's words echoed through her mind causing a pool of tears to form behind her eyelids.

Santana had felt so comfortable in the blonde's arms, for the first time in a long time she felt like she was loved.

But it was also the first time she felt like she was letting the blonde down.

She knew if anything were to happen with them, it would all end up in heart break and she couldn't do that to the blonde. She wouldn't start something she couldn't finish.

She swiped furiously at her cheeks, desperately trying to get rid of the falling tears and reached out slowly to tuck I stray hair behind Brittany's ear as she watched her sleep. She was grateful the blonde hadn't left her bedside since she was brought in, only for bathroom breaks but then again her room did have its own bathroom so really she wasn't really going anywhere.

Santana closed her eyes as a bubble of warmth rose within her stomach. "What's got you smiling?" Brittany's words pulled Santana from her thoughts, she hadn't even realised she'd been smiling. Maybe that's what the blonde did to her now.

"Nothing, I was just thinking." Santana replied quietly.

Brittany gave the smaller girl a confused look; she craned her neck with a loud click and got up stiffly to sit on the end of Santana's bed. "I'm glad you're smiling. You haven't had a lot of reasons to lately." Brittany sighed with a sad smile.

Santana knew the blonde was partly right, things had taken a turn for the worse in her life and she really wasn't happy about that – come on she was dying here – but she couldn't help but feel a bubble of happiness when she woke up to see the blonde sleeping in the chair next to her or whenever she would talk, hell Santana was happy to just be in the presence of Brittany. She didn't tell her that though, she couldn't bring herself to because to Santana, that was as good as admitting her feelings for the blonde, and there was no way in hell she was doing that anytime soon.

"I need to tell you something, San." Brittany whispered. She suddenly found an interest in her hands fiddling in her lap. Santana nodded cautiously for the blonde to continue. "Your parents are on their way here and said they were going to be arriving tomorrow afternoon."

Santana groaned in frustration. As if things couldn't get any worse, the parents – or parent - from hell were coming to visit her. "Fucking great." She fumed. Santana bit down on her lip, not wanting to take her anger out on the blonde she turned away from her, reached out for some pills on the side of her bed. She swallowed two without water and closed her eyes. She let herself slowly fall into oblivion…

She hadn't noticed all the flowers and get well soon cards that stood at the bottom of her bed. Brittany had told her most of them were off the glee kids – they had gave Quinn money to buy cards and flowers since most of them wouldn't be able to fly out to New York at such short notice - and a few off her family. Santana was kind of pissed that she hadn't been awake when people had visited but the morphine for her chest was keeping her asleep almost 24/7. She only had one more day in the hospital and she could go home and everything would go back to normal.

"Who am I kidding, nothing's going to be normal again." she muttered sleepily to herself, quiet enough that Brittany, Quinn and Rachel didn't hear her.

She felt like she was underwater again because everything sounded funny and muffled, maybe it was because she had just woken up or the drugs, or maybe they were trying to keep their voices down so she wouldn't hear?

"What are you talking about?" she croaked out, her throat felt all dry and scratchy. Brittany hurried over with a cup of water and helped the Latina to drink before sitting back down next to the other two girls.

"How are you feeling Santana?" Rachel asked cautiously.

"Fucking fabulous, Hobbit." She snarled sarcastically, "How do you think I'm feeling? I'm dying! Can't get any better than that right?" she didn't mean to sound so vicious but when she had all this pent up anger bubbling inside of her, sometimes it just slipped out.

"I'm sorry." Rachel whispered before cowering into Quinn's side.

"No, I'm sorry, Berry. I just feel like shit you know? It's been a lot to take in; I guess it still hasn't really sunk in what's going to happen to me." Santana gave Rachel an apologetic smile and turned to look out of the window. She'd found herself doing that a lot lately, it soothed her to watch the weather change but sometimes she looked up at the sky hoping against hope that all the shit she had put people through wouldn't land her in hell… even though she knew she probably deserved it more than anyone at the moment.

Santana heard a quiet sniffling noise followed by a whimper coming from across the room but before she had time to turn around to look, Quinn was already running out of the room with her face in her hands. Rachel went to stand up but was stopped when Brittany shook her head. "I'll go, I need some fresh air. Keep San company?"

Rachel nodded but Santana just rolled her eyes not wanting to be left alone with the other brunette.

Brittany sprinted down the corridor after the blonde, almost falling over a cleaning cart and dodging a few doctors but finally reached the elevator doors before they could close on the blonde and jumped in with Quinn.

Without saying a word, Quinn wrapped her arms around Brittany's waist and let her tears fall. Brittany didn't know what to do, so she racked her fingers through Quinn's short hair until the blonde was ready to speak.

"I'm sorry, Britt. I just couldn't let myself cry in front of her." She sighed as she wiped away the rivers of mascara.

"She's going to be okay, Quinn." Brittany said without any doubt in her voice. She didn't want to think that by the end of the year she wouldn't have the brunette in her life. She wouldn't let herself think like that because when she did, she couldn't see a life without Santana.

Santana was her life.

The elevator doors opened with a 'ding' to reveal two familiar looking people. A woman who looked to be in her early thirties – but was obviously a lot older – stood with a grey haired man. The woman seemed to be the double of Santana with dark hair and the same skin colour but with a slightly warn but threatening look. She had a cold gaze that made the hairs on Brittany's neck stand on end. The man however, had bright brown eyes – identical to Santana's – and stood tall over the three women, he had a small smile on his face and still looked welcoming all the same. She could see why the Latina was closer to her father; he would actually care for his daughter's happiness rather than her appearance like her mother did.

"Mr and Mrs Lopez." Brittany almost bowed to the couple that stood in front of her but instead held out a hand for them to shake. Mr Lopez shook it firmly and then turned to Quinn who copied Brittany's actions. Mrs Lopez just nodded at the two girls, barely acknowledging their existence.

The two Blonde's smiled and shuffled around nervously as Santana's parents boarded the elevator and they road back up to Santana's floor.

"Berry," Santana snapped her fingers in front of Rachel's face trying to get her attention as she stared down at her lap. "We need to talk about you and Q. I know it's none of my business but she's my best friend, and well… I need something to take my mind off everything else that's going on in my fucked up life."

Rachel nodded in understanding. "Of course Santana, what is it you would like to discuss?" Santana rolled her eyes at how polite the smaller girl was being.

"Well, first off, how's the sex life going? I know Q was getting a bit upset about not being able to spend time with you because of school and work and stuff, so how's that going?" Rachel looked a bit taken aback by Santana's forwardness even though they'd gone through high school together she still wasn't used to the Latina even talking to her.

"Err…" she hesitated slightly, trying to put her thoughts together. A beaming smile covered her lips going all the way up to her eyes. "We're better, I've cut down on my after school curricular activities so I get to spend more time with her and we spend more time in-" She stopped herself from talking when she realised she was about to reveal their personal sex life.

Santana rolled her eyes and scoffed. "We're all grownups in here, Berry. You don't need to get all worked up and embarrassed about the 'sex' word."

Just as Rachel was about to reply her eyes flickered towards the door and back to Santana with an unrecognisable expression. Santana followed the smaller girl's line of sight towards the door.

Her mouth immediately turned dry, her whole body tensed up and she wanted to scramble away from the figures standing in the doorway. She wanted to throw herself out of the window so she wouldn't have to deal with her parents, mainly her mother.

Rachel pattered Santana's arm and gave her a reassuring look before slowly heading out the room to give the Lopez's some time to talk.

Santana wasn't scared of her parents. In fact it was far from it. She loved her father more than anything; she looked up to him and hoped that in the future she would be just like him.

Her mother however, was a different story. She didn't get on with her at all. They would fight over the smallest things like whose turn it was to take out the trash or what to eat for dinner. Sometimes, Santana even felt like her mother didn't love her. She treated Santana like a possession rather than a daughter.

Her parent's intimidated the shit out of her, no matter how much she loved her father and how little she spoke to her mother, she would always feel like she couldn't please them or live up to their standards.

Santana opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She hadn't spoken to her parents since the start of summer vacation. She had chosen to avoid them the entire time she was at home other times she had stayed over at Brittany's and sorted out plans for New York.

She hadn't even told her parents she was moving out until two weeks before she was due to leave. Things hadn't ended well with the Lopez family last time she had seen them.

"Mamá, Papá." Santana stuttered out awkwardly as she tried not to make eye contact with her parents. She couldn't make out the expression on their faces but hoped to god they weren't angry with her.

"Santana!" Her father ran over to her and threw his arms around her carefully. "Oh, god. I'm so glad you're okay baby." She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck to hide her tear filled eyes. She was so glad he wasn't angry with her for leaving them to move to California without her. She wrapped her arms around her father's waist and pulled him closer. She could smell his strong aftershave and cigar smoke on his clothes.

When her father finally pulled away, she wiped away her tears to see the room was empty apart from her mother who was stood in the doorway. She looked on at the interaction with a blank face. "You brought this upon yourself, Santana. If you had just moved to California with us, none of this would have happened." She sauntered further into the room to sit on the chair Brittany had spent the past four nights sleeping in.

"Mamá, this would have happened regardless of whether I was living with you and Papá. The doctors said this has been growing in my heart for at least a year." Santana suddenly found her hands a lot more interesting and began to twiddle her thumbs. She couldn't make eye contact with her mother's cold gaze that was burning holes in the side of her face.

Even when she was dying, her mother still found some way to make out it was the Latina's fault, just like everything else that went wrong in the Lopez's lives.

Mrs Lopez sighed and held to fingers to the bridge of her nose. "You will be coming back to California with me and your Father so we will be able to take care of you properly. There will be no arguments Santana."

"No!" Before Santana could answer three women launched themselves into the room. They had obviously been listening in on the conversation through the closed door. Brittany had tears streaming down her face and ran straight for Santana to grab her hands while Quinn and Rachel had the decency to look embarrassed that they had been caught snooping.

"You can't take her away from her friends. She has a life here, a job!" Brittany argued. Her face was full of desperation. "Don't take her away from me." she said the last part loud enough for the Latina to hear but no one else. She couldn't lose Santana. She wouldn't let anyone take the Latina away from her, not even her parents.

Santana's grip tightened on Brittany's hands.

She couldn't let go.

"This is our decision. We are her parent's; she will do as we tell her." Her mother bit back harshly at the blonde. Mr Lopez stood silently in the corner of the room, clearly feeling guilty for what his wife was saying to his daughter and her friends.

"Don't talk to her like that." Santana snapped at her mother but she ignored her daughter.

"Santana is an adult. This is her decision." Rachel joined in the argument; Quinn was furiously nodding her head by her girlfriend's side.

"She needs people who can take care of her." Mrs Lopez was beginning to get angry, she knew the girls were right but she wouldn't be beaten by a bunch of nineteen year olds.

"We can take care of her!" Quinn shouted, She was giving Santana's mother her 'queen bitch' glare but the older woman didn't back down.

Santana clenched her eyes shut as she drastically tried to keep herself calm. She couldn't let her heart beat too fast. There was a small throbbing pain in her chest again and she pressed her hand there and began to roughly rub small circles above her heart.

"Shut up!" she screamed when the arguing began to get out of hand. The room fell silent and all eyes fell on her. "I'm not moving with you to California just because you feel obligated to look after me. Hell, I wouldn't even move with you if you actually acted like you loved Me." she paused to make eye contact with her mother.

"I actually feel happy living here, I feel like I belong. I'd rather live with my friends and be happy for the last year of my life than be with my family and be a miserable fuck and turn out to be exactly like my mother!" she took in a deep breath and turned to face the older woman sitting next to her. "Get out now." She growls at her mother and points towards the door. When she doesn't move, Santana gives her the coldest glare she has ever used, "I'm staying here. You can't control me anymore. I'm happy here with the people I love." The final word she said was harsh and bitter causing her mother to flinch. She knew what her daughter was trying to say.

Her daughter didn't love her anymore.

Mrs Lopez looked away from her daughter, hiding the hurt in her eyes as she stood up to leave.

She walked out of the room leaving Mr Lopez to decide whether or not to follow. "Te amo hija." He whispered into his daughter's ear as he hugged her tightly. "This is my number." He placed a small piece of paper in her free hand. "If you need anything - and I mean anything – you just call me." Santana reached up to kiss his cheek and said her good byes before he reluctantly left the room.

She was more than disappointed that her father didn't stick up for her against her mother but she understood that he was put in a difficult position and that he loved them both.

Santana was still rubbing small circles on her chest but the pain was slowly fading, she pulled a strip of pills off her bed side table and swallowed two whole without taking a drink of water. She didn't know what the pills were for but she was told to take four every day.

Brittany was still holding one of her hands, tears pouring from her eyes. "I can take care of you Santana…" she muttered quietly. Brittany's rant from the other night began to echo through her mind again.

"I know Britt-Britt. Ignore anything my mother says. You will always mean more to me." Santana gave Brittany's hand a reassuring squeeze before looking at the other girls in the room. "Thank you for sticking up for me. It means a lot."

Quinn and Rachel came to sit on the other side of the bed so that all four were crowded together for a group hug. "We're not going anywhere San." Quinn giggled. "How about we throw you a welcome home party and a house warming party all in one when you get home?"

Brittany automatically beamed at the idea and nodded furiously. How could Santana refuse a look like that? "Sounds awesome Q. but first I want some food. So if you don't mind, how's about you go fetch me some real food? I don't think I can stand this hospital food much longer." The group giggled at Santana's ghetto voice.

Quinn and Rachel stood up to go and get a Chinese from down the road leaving Santana and Brittany alone. The blonde wrapped her arms around the Latina's waist and cuddled up to Santana's back. "Are you okay?" she wanted to flinch away from the hold know that she was doing the wrong thing.

"Yes." Santana says shortly not wanting to get into any deep conversations. She was suddenly hyper aware of the blonde touching her. Her skin felt like it was burning from the contact but a good sort of burning like she couldn't get enough of the blonde. But she knew it was wrong, she knew she shouldn't be doing this. She couldn't lead the blonde on when she knew she would end up hurting her. "Stop." She whispered.

"What's wrong?" Brittany asked sounding completely helpless.

Santana couldn't lie to Brittany, she couldn't come up with some lame ass excuse but she also knew she couldn't tell her the truth. "Could you get me some water please?" She tried not to make eye contact with Brittany, knowing that the blonde would know straight away that she was hiding something.

Never the less, Brittany jumped off the bed and headed for the door.

Santana closed her eyes praying to god that she would fall asleep before the blonde got back so she wouldn't have to deal with all the messed up feelings she was having. The realisation of what was happening to her finally hit her with such a force, she was surprised she didn't physically fly off the bed.

She was dying.

She had a year left to live.

Was she just supposed to sit around and wait for a year?

Brittany knew there was something else going on with the Latina. She knew Santana was hiding something from her but she couldn't bring herself to ask in case it would upset Santana even more.

She hated feeling helpless, like she couldn't do anything to help the Latina. She didn't want to upset her by trying to make her happy but she had no idea what she could do to help.

She just wanted to break down in a sobbing heap and make everything go back to how things were.

She wanted Santana to be happy again.